Mizzou Invitational: Everyone Trying to Keep up with Missouri’s Smiths

Missouri's Daniel Wilson; Photo Courtesy: NCAA Athletics

Mizzou Invitational: Everyone Trying to Keep up with Missouri’s Smiths

Through two days of the Mizzou Invitational, Missouri’s corps of Smiths has led to seven wins on the women’s side, with the Tigers leading the team competition.

Missouri’s women’s team has 729 points through two days of the meet, comfortably out front of TCU’s 575. TCU has a slight edge in the men’s competition at 697.5, with Missouri at 648 and BYU’s 569.5 also in the picture.

On Wednesday’s opening night of the Mizzou Invitational, Francesca Smith and Sierra Smith teamed up to help the Tigers win the 200 free relay, bookended Taylor Williams and Paige Striley for a time of 1:29.17. Francesca won the 50 free in 22.57 seconds with Sierra third in 22.67, teammate Zara Zallen between them. Before that, Jane Smith had gone 4:47.76 to win the 500 free.

Sierra Smith finished the night by inheriting a deficit on the 400 medley relay but rallying on the anchor to edge TCU for the win in 3:36.55. Sydney Bales, Lina Bank and Williams rounded out that squad.

Francesca Smith anchored the willing 200 medley relay to start Thursday, with Ashley Gill, Bank and Williams in 1:37.27. She then won the 200 free in 1:47.43, an event in which Sierra finished eighth. Francesca teamed with Zallen, Piper McNiel and Macy Rink to win the 800 free relay in 7:14.52, Rink rallying on the anchor to overcome a deficit of nearly a second and edge TCU.

Williams won the 100 fly on the opening night in 52.36, with Striley third. Rink was third in the 200 free, Bank third in the 100 breast.

Florida International picked up wins by dominated the individual medleys. Christie Chue won the 200 IM on Wednesday in 1:57.73, teammate Nicole Frank second. Frank won the longer IM on Thursday in 4:14.88, exactly two seconds up on teammate Ellie Maradyn. That allowed Chue to chase the 100 breast, which she won in 1:00.17.

After hovering on the podium through the first two days, TCU finally got a win in the 100 backstroke. Tania Quaglieri went 52.61, a second up on teammate Rylee Moore. She also took Moore’s school record, which had been 53.38.

Quaglieri had been second in the 100 fly in 53.10 (a school record, lowering Jeanne Dahman’s 53.45 from the spring). Mikayla Popham was second in the 500 free and 200 free. Her time of 4:48.50 in the former dislodged the school mark that had held since 2011 (4:48.92, Maria Paula Alvarez).

Popham and Quaglieri joined Olivia Rhodes and Serena Gould to set a school record in the 200 free relay of 1:30.49, clipping six tenths off the 2022 mark. Quaglieri, Nina Vadovicova (second in the 100 breast, lowering her school record by .30 to 1:00.45), Dahmen and Rhodes chopped a full second off the school record in the 400 medley relay in 3:36.97.

On the men’s side of the Mizzou Invitational, BYU might not have the depth to stay on top, but the Cougars set six school records and won five of 12 events, including two relays.

Jordan Tiffany won the 100 backstroke in 44.85, twice lowering his school record in the event. He set the 100 back school record in 45.24 off the front of the 400 medley relay, which BYU won in a school-record 3:06.70, and then won the 100 back event on Thursday in 45.42. Tiffany led off the 200 medley relay in a program-best 21.20, the Cougars winning in 1:24.49, also a program mark.

Brad Prolo, Tanner Edwards and Luigi Riva comprised the other three legs on both relays. Riva won the 50 freestyle in 19.59 seconds on Wednesday. (Prolo also lowered his school mark in the 200 fly by going 1:42.18 in a time trial.)

Missouri started the meet Wednesday by wining the 200 free relay in 1:18.11 with the team of Daniel Wilson, Grant Bochenski, Freddie Rindshoej and Darden Tate. They edged BYU by .14 seconds.

Bochenski was second in the 50 free and 100 back, as was Mikolaj Malek in the 500 free, John Watson in the 400 IM and Tyler Spillane in the 100 breast.

Will Goodwin won Wednesday’s 200 IM in 1:45.17, edging TCU’s Geremia Freri by .08 seconds in a sensational race. Goodwin was third in the 100 breast on Thursday. Calvin Windle went 1:34.30 to win the 200 free.

Freri got his win in the 400 IM on Thursday in 3:49.85, a tenth up on Watson. His 200 IM time of 1:45.28 did improve his school record, however. Freri led off the 800 free relay in 1:36.44 to lead the Horned Frogs to a win in 6:25.83. Milan Fabian, who won the 500 free in 4:22.25 and was second in the 200 free, followed by Nick Rozenberg and Luke Dimiceli, who was third in the 200 IM and 200 free.

Piotr Sadlowski finished second in the 100 fly, improving his TCU record.

Lindenwood more than held its own. Elliott Irwin finished third in the 100 fly – lowering his program record to 46.50 in prelims – and third in the 50 free in 19.79. Teammate Johan Cue Carrillo won the 100 breast on Thursday in 52.22, a program record.

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